A variety of objects may inadvertently fall or drop into a body of water, such as an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, lake, pond, river, waterfall, stream, creek, or a swimming pool. The variety of objects may include, for example, a set of keys, a motor, an electronic device, a tool, an anchor, a piece of jewelry as well as other objects. For example, a person may accidentally drop a hand-held electronic device, such as a mobile phone, camera, pager, digital assistant, personal navigation device, or tablet computer, into water. In other examples, a set of car and house keys may fall off a boat into water; an outboard motor may be dropped from a boat and sink underwater; a tool, such as a wrench or flashlight, may fall off a dock or boat and sink underwater; and jewelry, such as a watch or necklace, may be dropped into water.
Other objects may be put into a body of water. For example, a person may throw a weapon, such as a gun, in attempt to hide the weapon underwater. In another example, an object may be located in a body of water as a result of a shipwreck, an accident, or natural disaster (e.g., flood, hurricane, tsunami, et cetera).
When an object falls or is otherwise put into water, the weight of the object is often greater than the buoyance force exerted by the water and, therefore, the object sinks below the surface of the water. It is often desirable or necessary to retrieve, recover, and/or pickup or otherwise gain access to the object. Furthermore, it may be desirable or necessary to at least partially retrieve, recover, and/or pick up the object from the body of water. However, it can be difficult to locate, retrieve, recover, pickup, or gain access to the object due a number of factors, such as the water depth, water visibility, bottom composition, and water movement (e.g., tide, current, waves, et cetera).
Oftentimes one or more of such objects or other item includes a ferromagnetic material or a ferrimagnetic material that can be magnetized and attracted to a magnet. A ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material includes, for example, iron, nickel, cobalt, and alloys of certain rare earth metals.